“Having fresh fruits and vegetables in this area is really important, because the number of liquor stores and convenience stores outnumber the food outlets. It’s really neat to come out here when we have tomatoes and see the students eat them like they are apples. The students in the club are the only ones who get to enjoy the produce—the ones who work get to take it home. At the end of the day, we divide it up, amongst everyone. They take it home and they are so proud. If there’s enough we’ll make a dish out of something."

Roosevelt’s garden program story

Teacher support

• Ms. O’Donnell started the program over seven years ago and has put untold hours into it. She tells how she was at the garden every day after school, cutting, sawing, building and gardening. She admits, however, that this was when she was a new teacher—young and highly motivated.  Now, in her advanced age (30-something!), she is focusing most of her efforts on fundraising and organizing.  For Ms. O’Donnell, maintaining the garden, supporting the students and looking for resources and partnerships is an ongoing, never-ending process.
• Chris, the science teacher, is new on board. He’s the true garden guy.  His grandfather was a gardener who taught Chris a lot about growing and composting.  He’s on the California Orchid Society, and is considered an orchid expert up and down the California coast. As the new science teacher/garden coordinator, Chris brings horticultural and agricultural information into the garden setting and integrates it into the science curriculum. 
• In addition to Ms. O’Donnell and Chris, they also have a staff person in charge of the “6 to 6” after school and summer program.  She and her students help out with the garden, especially during the summer.

 

Garden Club with rotating officers

• There are about 15 very dedicated students in the Garden Club.  They meet every Wednesday after school from 3:00 to 4:00.  A student named Charles is the nominated President of the group.  As the most responsible student, he makes sure everyone is coming to the garden on a consistent basis, knows all the jobs in the garden and checks that everyone is doing his or her job.
• The kids know their roles and their jobs. They know what it takes to run the place. They come out and have a five-minute meeting about the goals for the day, and they each take a task and work for the whole time they are there.

What does Chris do with the kids in the garden? Make garden learning fun.

Students harvest and cook from the garden and make ethnic recipes. Some are common and some are unusual, at least for North Americans:

• Stir fry, salsa, basil pesto, pumpkin bread—the common ones.
• Agua de Jamaica, a refreshing Mexican drink made out of dried hibiscus flowers—the uncommon! 
• Mexican candy out of the seed pod from a tamarind tree.
• Learn how fava beans fix nitrogen in their roots.
• Grow ornamentals along with edibles and learn about companion planting.
• Find organic ways to deal with pesky rabbits that like to eat their lettuce (use chili peppers)
• Grow sunflowers and feed the birds
• Watch nature do its job, as the crows find a bird’s nest hidden in the lavender bush and help themselves to the eggs.
• Hatch butterflies, feed them sugar water and then release them.

There are always new projects at Roosevelt’s garden.

• Three years ago, students helped put up the greenhouse and the shed.
• Two years ago, they made mosaic stepping stones.
• Last year, they made bird houses.
• The compost project is ongoing.  The students have been working on an ad campaign to get other students in the school to recycle and compost, but are finding it challenging.   They themselves are getting a good amount of compost and converting it into soil. But they say that most of the school is still not tuned into recycling and composting.  Also, it becomes time-consuming to pick through the garbage and sort it in the proper way.